Sunday, 18 April 2010

A New Exhibition...

Chris Ofili at Tate Britain; Alex Katz at Timothy Taylor Gallery; Franz Ackermann at Mason’s Yard; Indian Portraits at The National Portrait Gallery: a recent weekend visit to London saw me take in a lot of great painting exhibitions that I was really inspired by and felt a strong connection with. These, and the Eastern Art gallery at the New Ashmolean in Oxford, made me excited about the possibilities of organising a new exhibition of my own paintings. This week I finally ‘grasped the nettle’ and went to see Alan Cheeseman (left portrait) at his artist-run Chameleon Gallery in Walsall about holding a show in November. Put Saturday 6th November 2010 in your diaries as there will be a private view then, followed by an exhibition running until the following Saturday 13th November. There will be more details to follow nearer the time.

I’ve created many quite different and experimental paintings over the last year or so inspired by nature that I’ve been really keen to show as a group. I’ve been dithering about, seeking different, more commercial opportunities for some time, but I know that the opportunity to display something more creative and personal would not be with these sort of venues at the level I work at (definitely the lower leagues…), hence my contacting The Chameleon Gallery. I’m really excited by it now, and hope to put on something a bit different to my other installations. We’ll see…Here’s a link to the Chameleon Arts website:www.chameleonarts.co.uk

'Horns', oil on canvas, 75 x 120cms, 2009

'Bird', etching and aquatint, 16 x 12cms

I’ve also updated some new paintings on both the ‘Portrait’ and ‘Nature’ section of the website, some examples of which can be seen above. I’ve also changed the drawings portfolio to a ‘Print’ one, to see how this goes. The prints have created more interest over the last few months, and I think they look more developed and stronger. The prices of my works have also changed quite a bit. They are less expensive than before. My recent experience with Tregoning Fine Art in Derby has helped me price things more competitively I hope. There is a real variety in the recent work. I’d love to hear if people thought any particular paintings were working better than others. Any comments are always welcome!!!